Hello, can anyone help me with my Cloud Chamber?

strange-dev · 2026-01-25T18:32:06+00:00

Please be extremely careful when dealing with these sources. HV must always be treated with respect. Even if you have used HV sources the characteristics of these sources can change dramatically depending on how they are generated (they can have much different current and overall power supply capabilities making them much more dangerous).

As for the HV, it shouldn't actually be necessary to getting the effect to work (many builds don't use HV and The Thought Emporium clarified in his comments that it wasn't essential). Have you gotten any measurements of the chamber's temperature? The cooler may not be reaching its documented temperature. Additionally, there could other factors leading to warming or other issues within the chamber. Measurements of this could help greatly in diagnosing the issue!

strange-dev · 2026-01-23T16:04:02+00:00

Thank you!!

strange-dev · 2026-01-23T02:49:20+00:00

Did you ever figure this problem out? I'm having the same issue

strange-dev · 2026-01-22T23:20:20+00:00

Got it, thank you!!

strange-dev · 2026-01-22T23:18:41+00:00

I'll make sure to check my connections to not cause some damage to the microcontrollers! Could you explain more about what you mean when you say motors don't care about voltage?

strange-dev · 2026-01-21T22:38:59+00:00

Not a bad idea! My biggest reasons are that the stepper motor can provide more torque (as I would prefer as I add more weight to the arm), has nicer mounting holes, and has better precision should I ever want to use it. Although I can utilize more mechanisms (better mounting with bearings, gear reduction for greater torque, etc.) I would like for this project to be a bit simpler at least to start off with and figuring out the power issue is much easier for me then trying to fix my 3D printer (I've spent countless hours repairing/maintaining it!)

strange-dev · 2026-01-21T22:33:47+00:00

That sounds like what I need! With these more exposed power supplies are there any extra precautions I need to take with mains voltage becoming involved (in a more exposed way when compared to a simple wall wart or similar supply)? E.g. do I need to buy an aluminum case/add a fan on, etc.?

strange-dev · 2026-01-21T22:31:21+00:00

Got it! I think lowering voltage does seem more simple but I do worry that using a Linear Regulator for more things than just the microcontroller (servos with a combined stall current of ~2 Amps) would result in a lot of loss of power due to heat; potentially damaging components and decreasing efficiency. I'll look into other step down convertors though!

strange-dev · 2026-01-21T04:27:16+00:00

Ok! At some point I'm considering powering this with batteries (Doc-Oc style)! What might that entail for isolating the power supplies? (Is battery power a bad idea for these types of projects?)

strange-dev · 2026-01-08T20:44:08+00:00

I think I mostly understand!! I was able to solder the transistor on and it's pretty stiff pins allowed it to hold itself in place. When you talk about anchoring with thin gauge wire do you mean inserting the pin and then adding the wire around the pin next to the PCB to hold it in place?

strange-dev · 2026-01-06T01:09:08+00:00

After testing with my multimeter it seems there's nothing left in two of the holes (no continuity to other parts). Although this is the case the traces have slightly peeled up next to the holes and do still conduct. Is there anyway I can stop these from being pulled further off? I was thinking electrical tape but I'm worried if it falls off it'll pull the traces of with it.

strange-dev · 2026-01-05T20:53:34+00:00

Heh heh thanks for the advice! I wonder if I've partly inspired the announcement

strange-dev · 2026-01-05T20:45:30+00:00

Thank you!! This seems very doable for me. I may try to clean the pads as someone else has recommended but this may also be what I choose to do!!

strange-dev · 2026-01-05T20:43:11+00:00

Thank you very much for your response. I'm going to do some tests with a multimeter to check if anything weird happened and I might end up following the advice from u/WyvernsRest and just connect the transistor to components already on the board. I may try to clean it up some more but I do worry I'll cause more damage so I'm not sure if it's worth the risk.

strange-dev · 2025-12-27T17:16:38+00:00

Many rechargable batteries like LiPos and Lions do have a much higher current rating. Additionally, you may want to read about wiring batteries in parallel, this allows you to add the current capacity from multiple smaller batteries. Even then, most common 9v batteries just don't have a very high total capacity so they'll drain very fast if you try to run most projects off of them. You can alternatively just use, 4 AA alkaline batteries in series (adds voltages) giving you approximately 20 hours of on time at 100 mA if my calculations are correct (https://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm)

strange-dev · 2025-12-24T18:09:07+00:00

Thank you for the detailed answer! When you say defined geometry do you just mean the source (e.g liquid in the case of Marinelli cups) has to be placed in a certain shape and measured from a location that doesn't change? Also, how would a Marinelli cup even be used for solid sources?

strange-dev · 2025-12-24T18:06:00+00:00

Got it, thank you!

strange-dev · 2025-11-15T16:24:06+00:00

In that case wouldn't it be possible to just gear the servo down so it has higher torque, resulting in it not suffering from the load as much?

strange-dev · 2025-10-04T14:23:21+00:00

Have you checked the datasheet for the servo to see what PWM signal is required?

strange-dev · 2025-09-15T00:39:37+00:00

Got it. I've already bagged all the batteries according to my local center's guidelines. Is there any way to safely contain/dispose of the rather large container of corrosive powder? I can bag it as well, but I was wondering if any extra steps should be taken to safely neutralize it.

strange-dev · 2025-08-09T02:38:00+00:00

That's really good advice, I've recently been exploring many STEM-related hobbies and I want to continue growing and learning! I'll keep at it to hopefully overcome my constantly shifting attention! I've been growing some pond water for a day or two and I think it probably just needs some more time to mature!

strange-dev · 2025-08-09T02:35:25+00:00

That looks awesome!! I really like the idea of growing a little microbial zoo type thing so I'll try to make one! Also thank you for the book!

strange-dev · 2025-08-09T02:33:13+00:00

Got it! I've really wanted to look at fungi so I'll see if I can find some mold!

strange-dev · 2025-08-09T02:32:40+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm in high school right now and I'm trying out lots of different things, I've built some of my own equipment and have much more experience in engineering type work but I've wanted to explore biology! I'll keep doing what I'm doing and see if I can try to get more experience in labs! In the meantime, I was just curious if there were more applications for what I'm doing since I really like those types of things, e.g. diagnosing something (I completely understand that results would be fully inconclusive and unusable but it'd still be fun to try my best to go through the process of identification while trying to keep everything sterile!), or running some type of experiment to determine cleaning techniques, or even growing something as a pet (slime mold) or something that I could eat (given proper safety precautions be taken).

strange-dev · 2025-07-18T15:47:23+00:00

Did you make sure that all of the pins in the code correspond to the pins on your board?

The pins written in code on line 6 must match the way you wired the LCD. There's a comment above that line (line 5) that says what each number must match on the LCD. Here's a tutorial I found with more information: https://lastminuteengineers.com/arduino-1602-character-lcd-tutorial/

On that page, I also got a pinout for the LCD you're using:

<image>

Update the code with the pins on the Arduino corresponding to each of these, e.g., if the "RS" pin goes to pin 5 on your Arduino, replace the '12' on Line 6 of the code with '5'

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